Senior Management Team

Meet the Directors responsible for the day-to-day running of Historic Environment Scotland.

Barbara Cummins

Barbara Cummins is the Director of Heritage.

Prior to joining the organisation, Barbara spent 18 years working in Scottish local government where she gained extensive experience in dealing with significant and high-profile planning cases.

She has a BA Honours degree in Geography from the Queens University of Belfast (with first arts Archaeology, Economic History and Social Anthropology), a Postgraduate Diploma in Town and Country Planning from Heriot Watt University, is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and has a Masters in Business Administration from Edinburgh University.

She is a member of the Scottish Executive Committee of the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland.

Dr David Mitchell

Dr David Mitchell is the Director of Conservation.

Dr Mitchell has been active in the fields of traditional skills and materials, and digital documentation for several years, and has a particular interest in industrial heritage and the Scottish architectural iron founding industry. Between April 2016 and September 2016, he took on the role of acting CEO for Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in earth sciences and a PhD in architecture. Before joining the organisation, he was managing director of a private firm of industrial heritage consultants and contractors.

He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling, a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and a trustee of the Scottish Ironwork Foundation and the Stirling Smith Museum and Art Gallery.

Stephen Duncan

Stephen Duncan is the Director of Commercial and Tourism.

Stephen's role involves managing the customer experience, education and interpretation activities for our visitors across our diverse portfolio of properties and includes responsibility for the organisations commercial activities.

He has served as a Director of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA), is a member of the Tourism Leadership Group in Scotland and has also worked as a business consultant on a number of small and large scale tourism projects.

Stephen has been chair of the Heritage Tourism Group since May 2013. In September 2014, Stephen was appointed to the board of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), the UKs most popular and iconic museums galleries and heritage attractions. He serves on the board of BIDS Scotland and is a Director of the trading arm of Historic Environment Scotland’s enterprise company.

Lisa McGraith

Lisa McGraith is the Director of Communications.

Lisa is responsible for all strategic communications for Historic Environment Scotland (HES). This includes external communications, corporate and commercial activity, internal communications, media relations, stakeholder engagement, digital and branding. She is also responsible for our filming and photography and the Gaelic Language Plan.

Previously, she worked in the private sector representing a broad range of clients within the property, corporate, retail, consumer, and public sectors throughout the UK.

Lisa is a communications honours graduate of Edinburgh’s Napier University and is a board member for Care and Repair Edinburgh.

He has 30 years of experience in the public sector and previously held the post of Head of HR at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and is educated to Masters level in the field of Human Resources.

Gary is a Trustee of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and a former Non-Executive Director and Chair of both Play Scotland and Depression Alliance Scotland.

Donella Steel

Donella Steel is the Director of Finance.

Donella oversees the finances of the organisation and is responsible for developing and implementing our financial strategy. She has directorial responsibility for a range of corporate functions including Finance, Procurement, Grant Schemes and Corporate Analysis and Performance.

Donella has worked in the public sector for more than 20 years including senior Finance roles for Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.

In 2014, she received the Iain Doig CIPFA award for her contributions to innovation, leadership and support to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Scotland.

Donella is a former member of the Inverness College Board of Management and former trustee of the Highland Hospice.

Alison Turnbull

Alison Turnbull is the Director of Development and Partnership.

Alison’s role focuses on implementing strategic development plans and helping deliver Our Place in Time, the strategy for the historic environment of Scotland.

She has over 10 years of experience within the heritage sector, serving as the Head of Research and Development at the Museum Galleries Scotland. Before that she worked in a range of policy development roles in the Scottish Government, corporate communications, research and tertiary education.

Alison has degrees in Sociology and Cultural Studies from the University of Auckland. She is a former Deputy Chair of Hearts & Minds.